Seminar: Daughters of the Dust

Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust remains a fixture of Black Cinema and is widely hailed for its commitment to themes of African Diaspora, cultural memory, and African American progress.

The depiction of the multi-generational family of Gullah islanders—the Peazants—in a 1902 post-abolition landscape exists within a cinematic lineage of encoded Black bodies. This seminar will explore Dash’s iconic use of the Black body and its capacity to carry and unleash memory onscreen while considering the period of Black, experimental cinema that gave rise to Dash’s visual sensibilities.

About the Speaker

Kyéra Sterling is an independent scholar whose work explores intersections between Gender, African Diaspora, and critical race theory in film and literature. She completed her master’s at the University of Massachusetts, Boston and currently serves as Chief of Staff in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

About Coolidge Education Seminars

Want to learn more about some of your favorite classic films? Before select Big Screen Classics events register for the Coolidge Education seminar, which includes a 30 minute lecture before the film from an expert and a reserved seat at the screening of the film.